OPINION BY BOWES, J.:
Joseph M. Downey appeals from the August 13, 2010 judgment of sentence of fines and costs imposed after he was convicted of the summary offense of underage drinking. We affirm.
Following his conviction of the offense in question by the magisterial district justice, Appellant filed an appeal with the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County. His de novo trial was held on August 10, 2010. West Chester University Police Officer Matthew J. Paris, who had participated in approximately 1500 prior incidents involving underage drinking, was the sole witness at the proceeding and testified as follows. At 10:00 p.m. on March 17, 2010, he was on patrol in full uniform with West Chester University Police Sergeant Herzog
When Officer Paris approached him, Appellant "was unsteady on his feet," so the officer asked him "if he had been drinking." Id. at 8. Officer Paris was approximately five feet away from Appellant at that time. Appellant responded that he had not been drinking, but he appeared intoxicated to the officer. Officer Paris explained that the basis for this conclusion was Appellant's "appearance, unsteady on his feet, wavering. Talking to him, [he] was a little slow to respond to me[.]" Id. Additionally, from "approximately five feet away," Officer Paris detected the odor of what in his "belief was an alcoholic beverage emanating from [Appellant]." Id. at 10-11.
At the close of the Commonwealth's case, Appellant orally moved to suppress the evidence presented against him on the ground that there was "enough in the record to make argument that there was not reasonable suspicion to make a stop[.]" Id. at 26. The trial court rejected that position, convicted Appellant of underage drinking, and sentenced him to fines and costs. This appeal followed. Appellant raises two arguments on appeal:
Appellant's brief at 4.
Prior to addressing Appellant's issues, we must first resolve the Commonwealth's contention that Appellant waived any suppression issue by failing to file a written motion to suppress. It relies upon Pa.R.Crim.P. 581(B), which provides: "Unless the opportunity did not previously exist, or the interests of justice otherwise require, [a motion for suppression of evidence] shall be made only after a case has been returned to court and shall be contained in the omnibus pretrial motion set forth in Rule 578. If timely motion is not made hereunder, the issue of suppression of such evidence shall be deemed to be waived." The Commonwealth posits that since Appellant did not file a written suppression motion after he filed his appeal from the magisterial district justice's determination of guilt, he has waived his right to contest the constitutionality of his interdiction with Officer Paris.
In Commonwealth v. Long, 753 A.2d 272 (Pa.Super.2000), we interpreted the predecessor to this Rule, Pa.R.Crim.P. 323, which contained identical terms. Therein, the defendant made an oral motion to suppress evidence during the course of trial. We concluded that despite the fact that a written motion was not filed and that the legal grounds for such a motion would have been apparent from the record, the defendant had not waived his right to move to suppress evidence obtained from a traffic stop. We noted that the rule expressly indicates that a written motion was not required if the opportunity to file it did not previously exist or if the interests of justice otherwise required consideration of the motion. We indicated: "Whether the opportunity did not previously exist or the interests of justice otherwise require is a matter for the discretion of the trial judge." Id. at 279.
Herein, the trial court entertained Appellant's oral motion to suppress and rendered a ruling on the merits. Furthermore, the Commonwealth never objected at the summary trial to the trial court's consideration of the oral suppression request. It is only now, on appeal, that the Commonwealth urges a finding of waiver. Finally, this matter involved a summary conviction, the adjudication of which entails truncated procedures. Hence, we decline to find waiver herein.
Next, we consider Appellant's position that the trial court erred in failing
Commonwealth v. Johnson, 33 A.3d 122, 124 (Pa.Super.2011). (citation and quotation marked omitted).
There are three types of interactions between police and a citizen:
Commonwealth v. Au, 986 A.2d 864, 866-67 (Pa.Super.2009) (en banc), appeal granted on different grounds, 606 Pa. 113, 995 A.2d 349 (2010).
The issue of whether a detention has occurred is analyzed under the following standard:
Commonwealth v. Coleman, 19 A.3d 1111, 1116 (Pa.Super.2011).
Herein, we conclude that Appellant had a mere encounter with Officer Paris when Officer Paris was standing five feet away from him. Contrary to Appellant's representations on appeal, the record does not support a finding that his path was blocked by two uniformed police officers and that a seizure occurred at that point. Officer Paris's uncontradicted testimony was that two individuals were detained by his companion, and he alone approached Appellant and then stopped when he was five feet away to ask Appellant some questions. There is no indication that the officer blocked Appellant or restricted his movement. Hence, at that juncture the interdiction was a mere encounter, for which no reasonable suspicion was needed. See Commonwealth v. Moore, 11 A.3d 538, 541 (Pa.Super.2010) (mere encounter occurred when police approached defendant and began to speak with him).
Commonwealth v. Brown, 606 Pa. 198, 996 A.2d 473, 477 (2010) (citations and quotation marks omitted).
In this case, Appellant was screaming from the second floor of a garage and, when he viewed police, started to walk toward the elevator while his companions approached the police. Appellant smelled of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet. Armed with those facts and his prior experience in underage drinking, Officer Paris had reasonable suspicion that Appellant was committing the noted infraction. We therefore conclude that the trial court did not abuse it discretion in denying Appellant's motion to suppress the evidence.
Appellant next claims that the court erred in admitting the results of the portable breathalyzer test into evidence.
Judgment of sentence affirmed.